The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-03-03

Trouble, blaek Ones heon Danger ana
Rcd Observation-Disclosures OF Good
Fortune-A Curious Belief.
"In these days Of chirognomy and ch;ro-
NANCY and all the other ologies and ancies
relating to peoples hands and heads and
noses and ears, it is surprising that no one
has as yet revived the old art Of onycho-
mancy," said South Side physician the
other day to q reporter.
"What is onychomancys Well, it is the
art of divination by the nails, and was
much practiced by some of our many times
great grandfathers / think in the Eigh-
tcenth century. The most learned and
distinguished of onychomancists was Je-
rome Cardan, who was considered as great
an oracle In his day as Mr.. Heron-Allen is
at present, though Cardan never made
such practical use of his reputation as the
wideawake Englishman has done. He
was q languid, blase Partisan, always in
venting some new method for making life
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., by the way, whose
only merit would seem to be originality.
One of his ideas was that govt ought to
be considered not as a calamity to be got
ten rid of, but as q blessing to be cult
waited, view with which some folks assur-
edly would not sympathiZe.
OUTLINES OF THE ART.
81 suppose Monster Cardan found that
even such an original amusement as cul-
tivating the govt palled occasionally, and
found relief in onychomancy. He devoted
q great deal of time to the art and became
quite proficient in it. He himself was the
proud posSessor Of extraordinary large
nails-nails so magnificent in volume and
shape that he counted them as 'one Of the
four eminent gifts bestowed on him in or
der that he might be distinguished from
the rest of mankind BY means Of these
nails he is said to have foretold his future
almost exactly, finding 1t traced out upon
them as plainly as in Q map. For in
in the form of nvid or black marks on the
nail of the forefinger, while marks per-
fectly white appearing In the same place
were prognostics of coming good fortune.
Specks on the thumb nail meant ap-
preaching honors, and riches were herald
ed on the nail of the index finger. The
size, color and precise location of the diff
ferent specks were all matters of the
greatest Importance.
"Cardan was by no means the only ony-
chomancist He had great many fol-
lowers and some predecessors. The out
lines of their doctrine arc summarized by
Collin de Plancy in the 'Dictionaire Infer
nal Ycllowish specks on the nails fore
tell approaching trouble; black ones mean
danger; red specks, which arc very IN
common, give warnin that some one has
evil designs against Us; pure white specks
are most to he desired, as they are the
forerunners of good fortune. When these
signs appear at the bottom of the nails,
the accomplishment of their prophecies is
remote, but as the nails grow and the
marks approximate tie tip of the fingers q
speedy fulfllment may be expected of the
unguicular Vaccinations.
A CURIOUS BELIEF.
"Did you know" he continued; THAT
the Jews held some extraordinary opinions
about nails? They used TO believe that,
before the fall, the bodies of our first pa
rents were perfectly transparent and that
of these lucid envelopes of the soul our
nails were the sole surviving remains.
Curious belief, wasn't it? You wouldn't
care to he so eXquisitely transparent your
self? Neither should l.
1.-THE long nail craze is growing more
and more fashionable, isn't it? notice
some of my patients wear regular claws.
end the more fashionable the woman the
longer and more pointed her nails. Isup-
pose it is founded on the Chinese idea that
long nails are indications of gcntiiity,
since they are inconsistent with any me-
chanical employment or such vulgar
pursuit as working for ones bread. I've
read that in Nubia the long finger nail is
considered an indisputable proof of good
birth and high rank; so much so that tho
aspiring Nubian, who wishes to get into
society and belong to the upper ten thou
sand, constantly exposes his or her finger
tips to cedar fires, process which insures
the expansion of the nail. 1t seems to me
that we are fast descending, or ascending,
as you choose to call it, to the Nubian
standard, since length of nail really seems
to be taken as a criterion of good breed
ing. ..
''Hayo You my permission to use the in
formation about anychomancy? Oh, by
all means. My daughters heard me talk
ing about it the other day, and since then
they have been hard ut work studying up
all the books they can find upon the SUBJ
ject. To tell the truth, purposely awak>
encd their interest in it, with the idea that
a little talk about rcd specks' and. black
spccks' would be relief from the eternal
chatter upon head lines and heart lines
and what not which I have been COM
PEELED to listen to for the last six mouths"
Chicago Herald.